The Water Dragon Rivalry
by FireStorm1991
Summary: Kiyaki has grown up with no memories of who she is or where she is from. Instead her powers make everyone fear her except for a certain fire demon who has chosen her to be his rival because of their common abilities. Hiei X OC
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or the characters. Just my OCs.

I've been toying around with this idea for a while, ever since a friend of mine and I were playing the Yugioh card game. He prides his dragon deck and my water deck is my baby, so I came up with the title and idea from that rivalry we have. I haven't decided when the YYH characters are going to show up, but I will try to make sure it's not too long before they make appearances.

* * *

Somewhere in the mountainous region of Japan was a school, a dojo of sorts, for young women with strange abilities. The girls would be instructed by other females with similar abilities to them, but not every girl had an instructor. One girl was an outcast, her ability considered to be that of witchcraft. The girl was ridiculed by her peers, and the instructors kept their distance. The only friend she had was a young orphan girl who had arrived the same year she had.

The "witch's" name was Kiyaki. Her hair was auburn, her skin pale. It was easy for her to stay hidden amongst the trees because of her hair coloring. Where she could easily hide in nature, she could not hide among her fellow students. The others had darker coloring than she did, usually black hair and tanned skin. Her eyes were also different from the others, a pale blue with speckles of sea green. If that weren't enough, she was born with a symbol on her arm, a purple dragon that crawled all the way up her left arm. That didn't help the rumors of her being a witch.

The orphan girl, Izumi, was the only one who cared enough to spend time with Kiyaki. She was small, with dark hair and green eyes. Because of her eye color, she was also judged. It was a reminder that she was an outsider. It was a reminder that they were both outsiders.

"Aki, what are you doing?" Izumi asked as she came across her friend.

"Meditating," Kiyaki replied. It was something she taught herself to do to relax and stay calm. Being ridiculed and tormented daily by the older women was a challenge. This was Kiyaki's only out from the world around her.

"Will you train me some more?" Izumi pleaded with her pouty eyes.

Kiyaki sighed and decided to be done with meditating for the day. Training was for Izumi as what meditating was for her. This was Izumi's only escape. The young girl had been found six years ago when Kiyaki was two. She had been abandoned by her family, as was assumed, but had no abilities to be trained. She could never fit in without an ability. Kiyaki always rolled her eyes at the irony. Her ability was the reason she could not fit in.

"If I must," Kiyaki said in good humor. "Alright, what did we go over yesterday?"

Izumi's face lit up. She sat down in front of her sensei with a child-like joy. "You taught me to focus the little energy I have into my fists so that I can have some energy behind the force of the hit."

Kiyaki nodded. She needed to be sure the Izumi was paying attention to each lesson. The young girl was constantly picked on by girls who had really powerful energy in their attacks. The energy could be seen in their weapons or surrounding their hands. The teachers called it "spiritual energy" and it had put Izumi in the infirmary too often for Kiyaki's liking. She felt that it was her job to protect her only friend from their common bullies.

"Right, so to start off today," Kiyaki started to say as she held out her hand, "I want you to use that energy and direct you punch into my hand. I want to see how strong it is."

Izumi stood up confidently and nodded. She put all of her energy into her fist as she pulled her arm back. As she pushed it through the air towards Kiyaki's hand, Kiyaki could feel sparks of energy in the air. Izumi's fist made contact with her hand; Kiyaki smirked at the sensation. Despite not having spirit energy, this girl would be able to cause a lot of damage to the newer students. She would be a worthy opponent to the older crowd in no time.

"That was a decent hit," Kiyaki said coolly making Izumi smile. "You'll need to keep practicing and eventually you'll probably get enough strength to break a tree. But now, I need to teach you to defend yourself from abilities. Those bullies won't play fair. Unfortunately to teach you, I'm going to have to attack you with my own abilities."

"That's okay," Izumi said with a smile. "Your ability is very pretty."

Kiyaki knew that Izumi loved watching her practice with her abilities. She could summon spheres of water at will, as well as shooting the water at people. It may not have sounded like much, but there was so much spirit energy behind her ability that she could really do a lot of damage, another reason that she was feared.

Kiyaki and Izumi walked to a clearing and bowed to each other before putting a great deal of distance between them. "I'm going to shoot water spheres at you. I want you to work on dodging them while standing in the same spot. Try not to get hit. I'm weakening the energy I put behind it, but it may still hurt you."

"It's okay, Aki," Izumi called. "I can handle it." Kiyaki smirked as she created her multitude of water spheres.

* * *

The training session went well, although at the beginning Izumi got hit a lot. The young girl did not give up and eventually started to find a rhythm. Of course, the joys of their training session were interrupted by three older girls. They were the favored students of the dojo. Asuka was a tall girl with long, wavy, black hair and brown eyes. Her ability was controlling the wind with her energy. Chika was supposedly her cousin. She had the same colored hair, although it was short and framed her head, and her eyes were more black than brown. She had the ability to grow, meaning if there were budded flowers, she could open them. The last girl, Honoka, was the shortest of the three. Her hair was black, though it had touches of dark brown. Her eyes were light brown, matching her skin color. Her ability was to hypnotize others with the harmonious sound of her voice.

"Look, girls," Asuka taunted, "it's the rejects. I guess we shouldn't be surprised to see them training together. These orphans have no one."

Kiyaki clenched her fists. She didn't know anything about her parents as she had no memory of her past. That wasn't to say that she didn't have any out there; she just couldn't remember.

"We have each other," Izumi spoke up, glaring at the girls. They were teenagers, close to graduating from the prison Kiyaki felt she was in. One day, they'd be back as instructors, but only if they couldn't find a place for themselves in the world.

"Aw, how cute," Chika teased. "Well, that's great for you two, but I prefer to be surrounded by my loved ones."

"Well, they must not want to be around you since they sent you here," Kiyaki retorted. She looked over to Izumi apologetically because of how she came to be there, but they were used to being taunted this way so often that they couldn't be insulted by it when spoken by the other.

"Yeah, well…" Honoka said while trying to think of a comeback line. She then smirked sadistically. "At least I'm not a witch."

Before the other two girls could laugh, Honoka was on the ground, Kiyaki staring down at her. "I…am…NOT…a…witch," Kiyaki growled slowly and dangerously.

"Of course you are," Asuka stated. "That's why you can't remember anything. Sensei Aya created a barrier. Those of dark magic are said to lose their memories as they touch it, so that explains what happened to you. You're lucky she was kind enough to let you live."

"I was two!" Kiyaki snarled. "And how dare you? I know I'm not a witch. If I were, I would not have control of water."

"That's exactly what a witch would say," Chika hypothesized. "She would give excuses to try and trick us into letting our guard down. Well, we won't fall for it Witch Kiwaki."

"Hey, I like that name," Asuka said placing her finger to her chin. "Witch Waki."

"Worthless Witch Waki," Honoka suggested.

"Hey, that's not nice," Izumi said in her friend's defense. "Aki isn't a witch, or she would be evil. She's really nice and helps me with training."

"Whatever," the girls responded waving the two off. They looked to each other and laughed at their joke, chanting the words "Worthless Witch Waki" as they entered the dojo.

Izumi looked to Kiyaki with worry shining in her green eyes. "Aki, are you okay?" she asked gently.

"I'm fine, Izumi," she said unconvincingly. "It's nothing I haven't heard before, although the nickname is new."

"They don't know what they're talking about!" Izumi exclaimed. "They don't know you like I do!"

"Let it go, Izumi," Kiyaki told her as she sat down in her meditating position again. She peeked one eye out and said, "I wouldn't want you to become known as the outsider who hangs out with the 'witch.'"

Izumi frowned at her friend, but she decided to leave her alone. "I'll be in our room, Aki. Don't stay out here too long. You'll miss dinner."

Kiyaki grunted an affirmative response, which Izumi took as her agreement. She was the only one who took the time to understand Kiyaki's quirks.

* * *

The meditating helped Kiyaki a little bit, but she was still so frustrated. If only she could get her memories back, she knew she could prove she wasn't a witch. She had to have been in some accident or something that caused her to lose her memories. That shield couldn't have done anything.

And why was she considered a witch anyway? Everyone here had strange powers, so why was her water abilities singled out. Was it just because of the shield and her unusual coloring that everyone called her a witch? At this thought, she opened her eyes. If she touched the shield again, she could prove that she wasn't a witch, but the only problem with that was that the shield was outside the dojo.

It was then she made a decision. Kiyaki was going to find a way to break out of the school. She knew she would be punished for going outside the outer wall, but if she could prove she wasn't a witch, it would be worth it.

Kiyaki waited for Izumi to fall asleep. They hadn't spoken a word since Kiyaki returned to their room, even at dinner where everyone else was their usually chatty selves. When they returned to their room, Kiyaki, like Izumi, put on her white pajamas and slipped into bed. She waited until she heard Izumi's snores before she got up and changed into her black training suit and soft slipper shoes. She did not want to get caught before she made it out to the shield.

Kiyaki sneakily ran through the hallways, careful not to make a sound as she made it to the door of the dojo. She jumped over the three wooden steps and landed gracefully on the grass. She stood up from her crouched position and slowly walked to the one thing that could get her outside the outer wall.

She looked up at the tall oak tree she loved to climb, although this time she would be using it as a tool instead of a resting place. She climbed it quickly and crawled to the edge of its largest branch. Looking down, she could see the ground outside the outer walls. Her face lit up at how close she was to having proof.

Kiyaki jumped down from the tree using whips of water to slow her fall down. When she touched the ground she felt lighter as it was the first time she was outside the dojo since the day she was found. The shield was still ever present. Kiyaki walked over to it and held her hand out to touch it. She flinched before she could and withdrew her hand. She never believed she was a witch, but what if the shield did make her forget everything, including Izumi. Well, she was sure she would always become friends again if that did happen. Kiyaki shook her head in anger. She knew she shouldn't let the other girls get to her. Finally, she placed her hand on the shield only to be met with a memory. She retracted her hand as she remembered being a small child and playing with woodland creatures.

"It doesn't work from the inside," she heard a voice say. She turned to see Sensei Aya standing across from her. "You wanted to see if it would steal your memories again, correct?"

"It didn't steal me memories," Kiyaki growled in frustration. Why wouldn't anyone believe she wasn't a witch?

"Even if you are a child of darkness, Kiyaki," Sensei Aya started, "it does not mean you are or were a bad person. We do not choose our blood, but you should be wary around this shield nonetheless. You could always see something that would best be kept from your memory. Now please, come back inside."

"No," Kiyaki replied with defiance. "I will not go back in with you if everyone continues to call me a witch."

"But Izumi needs you," Sensei Aya pointed out. Kiyaki's eyes widened in panic when Aya made that remark. "Don't think I don't know that you have been helping her. Like I said, the shield may have taken your memories, but it can never take your personality. You may be a child of darkness, but you have a very good heart. Isn't that knowledge enough?"

Kiyaki frowned and looked down to the shadows on the grass. She looked back up to Sensei Aya and walked over to her. Aya smiled and put a hand on the girl's shoulder. She walked her back into the dojo and brought her back into her room. Kiyaki just crawled into bed as Aya closed the door. She looked outside her window and saw the moon shining down on her.

"I'm not a witch," Kiyaki whispered to herself, "and one day, I will prove it."

* * *

A/N: Alright, tell me what you think. There's going to be about 2 or 3 chapters, at most, before little Kiyaki ends up meeting any members from the YYH gang, so just bear with the back story for just a little bit, okay? :3


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or the characters. Just my OCs.

Okay, I got a lot of good feedback from the first chapter and I'm really excited to be writing this one. Just this chapter and maybe one more before I have any YYH characters enter the scene, maybe the end of the next one. I'll see how I feel about it then. Anyway, I hope you all continue to enjoy ^^

* * *

Kiyaki continued to train hard to master her abilities. Likewise she still trained Izumi and others still kept their distance, instead tormenting her with more ridiculous names. As she got older, the names got worse, more recently "witch bitch." It anger Kiyaki that no one would shut them up. She wanted so badly to use her powers against them, but she knew that if she did that everyone would die. How she came to that conclusion, she didn't know. It was just a feeling that she had had for the last few years.

And now the young girl was fourteen years old and getting ready for her "graduation." She hated the idea of leaving Izumi behind, but she needed to leave, not just because she needed to get away from the taunting, but she would be forced to leave by the instructors. They would most likely tell her never to return. Kiyaki didn't care about the rules, though. If Sensei Aya denied her request to take Izumi with her, she would find a way back into the school and break the twelve year old out of that prison.

Kiyaki felt someone hug her from behind. At first she tensed, but she knew it was the young girl she had come to see as her sister. She awkwardly returned the hug by placing her arms on Izumi's.

"Hey, Zu," Kiyaki said softly. "What's up?"

"I don't want you to leave," Izumi replied with a sniffle.

Kiyaki turned to face her little sister. She smiled to the younger girl and said, "Don't worry, Izumi. I'm going to request that Sensei Aya let you come with me."

Izumi gasped, but then smiled. "B-but will they really let me leave? I haven't graduated. I don't even have an ability for them to judge."

"All the more reason for them to let the two outsiders leave together," Kiyaki pointed out. "Now let's go. I wouldn't want to be late for my graduation out of this place."

"Right!" Izumi chimed as she followed her older sister to the outside courtyard.

* * *

There were a lot of people, more than Kiyaki remembered to be graduating that year. She wondered why everyone was gathered there. Only a few people would normally come to watch the ceremony. She knew, because she had never been forced to go to one. Why would so many individuals come to one ceremony?

"Hey look," she heard one of the girls say, "it's the witch bitch." It was followed by a ton of snickers from other girls and cries of protest from Izumi, but still the instructors let the berating continue. Why would Kiyaki expect anything different on her graduation day? Clenching her fists, she moved to the front of the courtyard with the other four girls who would be leaving with her.

Kiyaki did her best to ignore the stares she felt from the other four. She tuned out the majority of the ceremony, even the speech Sensei Aya gave about "using powers responsibly." Kiyaki mentally rolled her eyes. Aya didn't even know what her abilities were, so who was she to tell her what to do with them?

After everyone's name had been announced and the five were being taken to the outer barrier, Kiyaki felt off, even scared.

"Sensei," Kiyaki whispered. Aya looked to her with the utmost curiosity. "I…I think we better keep the barrier up."

"Whatever for, Kiyaki?" Aya asked.

"I don't know," Kiyaki replied. "I just have a terrible feeling."

Aya's brow rose. She knew that if Kiyaki was sensing something bad that the girls better be ready. She stopped the group and turned to face them. "Now girls," Aya started, "the road you will take is a challenge. Never let your guard down in battle or in life. One wrong step could cost you your life. I hope to see you all again one day."

Kiyaki's eyes widened. _That _was their teacher's warning about what dangers laid beyond the barrier? That was pathetic! "Sensei," Kiyaki growled in frustration.

Aya just smiled sadly hoping the girls could handle themselves. "I'm taking down the barrier."

"Why? Because you don't want the witch to lose her memories again?" one of the other graduates joked.

Kiyaki's fists clenched again. She was about to retort when Izumi stood up to the girls for her.

"Maybe she didn't want you witches to lose YOUR memories," Izumi snapped.

"Oh look, it's the talentless freak," another girl teased. "I shouldn't be surprised. You follow the witch around like a lost puppy. Maybe she took your ability and now you just serve her, is that it?"

"Don't say that!" Izumi exclaimed. "Aki is the only one who's been nice to me. She's my sister."

"Izumi," Kiyaki said in shock. She knew that was how both her and the younger girl felt, but she hadn't expected her to declare it in front of so many people.

Sensei Aya was taken aback. She had only heard of the verbal assaults on Kiyaki from other instructors. She hadn't even heard the few whispers as Kiyaki walked to the front of the courtyard. Hearing how vicious the other girls were bothered her, not just because it was wrong, but because Kiyaki could have been emotionally affected by their hateful words.

"That is enough, girls," Aya snapped. "This behavior is below all of you. I will not have my students mocking one another."

"Sorry Sensei," the other girls muttered.

"Now," Aya said, "I'm taking the barrier down now and you girls will be free to leave."

"Wait!" Kiyaki called out.

"Yes, Kiyaki?" Aya responded.

"I would like to request that Izumi come with me," Kiyaki stated. There was a strong silence among the group as they waited for an answer.

"It is against our rules," Aya started carefully as she saw the two girls frown, "but this was also a highly unusual situation. I will allow it."

Kiyaki and Izumi looked to each other before smiling. It made Kiyaki feel so much better that she wouldn't be leaving the young girl behind to be ridiculed of her lack of powers. The other girls scoffed in derision. Of course the witch would get special treatment. The girls mentally believed that Kiyaki was controlling Aya for that brief moment.

Aya turned back to the barrier and extended her hand. The barrier disappeared and she turned back to the girls. "You may go and make a life for yourselves out in the world." The four girls ran out happily, laughing at their newfound freedom. Izumi walked ahead a little bit, looking around at the thick woods. Kiyaki was about to go join her, but Aya held her back. Kiyaki looked up to the school owner in confusion.

"I know we tell the girls we want to see them back here, but it might be in your best interest to stay away," Aya told her. "I will tell you one thing. I do not believe you are a witch, but you are something." Kiyaki's eyes widened before they narrowed. "When I found you outside of the barrier you couldn't even remember your name. I knew my barrier erased your memories. It was probably for the best. I believe things happen for a reason. This is also the reason I am telling you not to return. I will not drop the barrier again. If you ever returned, I have no doubt that you would lose the memories you have made for yourself here. It is just a friendly warning."

"Fine," Kiyaki grumbled. "I won't come back. I wouldn't want to set foot in that hell again anyway."

Sensei Aya's eyes widened as her expression saddened. "I see," she whispered once Kiyaki was out of earshot. "I will miss you, Kiyaki."

* * *

Kiyaki and Izumi decided to set up camp somewhere in the middle of the woods. Kiyaki managed to find a bunch of edible plants and fruits to make them a light meal. After they let the fire die down, Kiyaki helped Izumi into a tree and the two of them looked up to the sky.

"So, where are we going to go, Aki?" Izumi asked.

Kiyaki sighed. "I don't know, Zu," she whispered, "but anywhere is better than that school."

Izumi smiled. "Yeah." The two sighed in contentment and continued to look at the stars. "We've never got to do this before."

"No, not really," Kiyaki agreed. "Anyway, we should get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow. I can feel it."

"Night Aki," Izumi said cuddling closer to Kiyaki.

Kiyaki looked down at her and smiled. "Night, Zu," she whispered before letting herself drift off to sleep. Before she closed her eyes, she though she saw the outline of a person, but she knew it was impossible since they were in the middle of the woods so far up the mountain.

* * *

The next morning, the two girls woke up and climbed down the tree. They knew they needed to keep moving down the mountain. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long. They needed to find a town at some point.

Kiyaki watched Izumi playfully run around as they descended the mountain that had been their home the last twelve years. Despite watching the happy Izumi, Kiyaki kept her guard up. She still felt like something was going to go wrong, but she couldn't explain the feeling.

"Look, Aki, a town," Izumi said snapping Kiyaki out of her guarded trance. Kiyaki smirked when she saw the town, a small mountain village that would surely be a welcoming environment for them to stay for a while.

The two girls entered the town and were met with a variety of different people. No one paid them much mind until they ran into a village elder.

"Hello, children," the man said lightheartedly. "What brings you two to our village?"

"Well, my sister and I just left our home and we were hoping to find a place to stay for a while," Kiyaki responded.

The man chuckled and said, "You have come to the right place, young ladies. We don't have many visitors here. We always enjoy helping the weary traveler. And you came just in time, too. Tonight we are celebrating the founding of our humble village."

"Yay, a party!" Izumi chimed happily.

"Let me show you where you girls can set up for the night," the man said.

Kiyaki nodded in agreement and took Izumi's hand so that they wouldn't be separated through the crowds. She couldn't believe that things had fallen into place so quickly for them. After the years of verbal torment and girls trying to pick fights with her and Izumi, they could finally start a new life, and there was no way that Kiyaki was going to waste that chance.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so next chapter should be the first YYH character appearance, at the end of the chapter. This was kind of a filler chapter to move the story a long a little bit. I'm sure everyone agrees that we want to see some YYH action very soon. Still, I hope you enjoyed this somewhat rushed chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or the characters. Just my OCs.

****PLEASE READ*****: I have a friend that has recently gotten into DBZ and she's been working on a Dragon Ball Z/Yu Yu Hakusho crossover called "What you Saiyan?" It's a really good story that I think you would all enjoy so please look it up. Her FF name is **dragoscilvio. **I'm currently writing the sequel, "Tarble in the Family."

* * *

Kiyaki and Izumi had been living in the mountain village for months. They had been taken in by the people, a people who practiced the sharing of resources, wealth, and work. It was so much more peaceful than the life they knew before.

Kiyaki took to the job of gathering water. With her abilities, she could make the buckets seem lighter, and it took half the time it took the other villagers to gather. It made her feel useful, that was for sure.

She heard a rustle in the trees as she continued to gather water. Kiyaki looked around, never fully getting over her paranoia of someone watching her. She shrugged it off, though, as she continued with her duties. Looking at the water, she smiled. Water was always so pure and pristine, and she had the powers to manipulate it. She used that as another reason for why she was not a witch.

"Water is rarely pure," an old woman said coming out from behind a rock.

"Huh?" Kiyaki responded in shock. "Wh-what are you..?"

The woman chuckled. "Oh, don't worry, dear. It's just my ability. I was like you girls once, you know. I came from that school."

"You did?" Kiyaki asked, her shock not dissipating. "Why did you stay here?"

The woman chuckled again. "Well, I spent some time here when I first set out. I have two abilities, child, mind reading and the ability to see spirits. As I had left, I had come across this village. Many spirits were hanging around, looking to tell things to their families and set things right or give final messages. After all of that, the people just became like my family, and so I stayed. I was orphaned too."

"I never said I was…" Kiyaki started before realizing. "Read my mind?"

"What else?" the woman asked. "But like I said at first, water is rarely pure."

"What do you mean?" Kiyaki asked.

The old woman bent down and filled one of the buckets. "You see, pure water doesn't exist. There is life in the water, as well as nutrients and other things that sustain said life. Pure water could never do something like that, dear. Your water ability may not be pure, but I'm sure you will find a way for it to benefit everyone. You can act as the life sustaining water."

Kiyaki smiled. She was pretty sure that she had already found her calling. If one from her old school could establish herself there, then she should be able to as well, right? When she turned back to the woman to ask more questions, there was no one there. All Kiyaki could hear was the rustling of trees. It was as if the woman had not even been there, except for the filled bucket. Kiyaki shrugged and continued on filling buckets, hanging them from her stick to carry back into the village.

* * *

She got back into the town square and started pouring the water into the community well. The village was buzzing with activity, parents with children, friends looking in shops. It was peaceful and ordinary, and Kiyaki couldn't be happier. Then out of nowhere, something shifted. Kiyaki looked around, though everything still looked peaceful. Still, she couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. Shaking it off, she went back to the home where she and Izumi were staying. It was a home that was always opened to outsiders, though they weren't treated as such.

She found Izumi playing with the younger kids. She was just so innocent and naïve, though for argument's sake, Kiyaki guessed she was naïve too. But what do you expect from two girls who were raised in some all-girls school for psychics.

She walked over to the group she was with and watched as they played some kind of board game. Then, out of nowhere, she sensed something again, this time her expression darkened. It did not feel like the same presence Kiyaki had felt before. It felt darker, stronger…more evil.

"Kiyaki, are you all right?" Izumi asked. Then all sound seemed to stop before Kiyaki could answer and reptilian tail crashed into the home.

Screams echoed as the ceiling collapsed, though thankfully no one had been caught under it. There was still enough leverage in the ceiling to keep it from falling.

"Everyone out," one of the men said.

Everyone in a panic started rushing for the door, only for a handful of people to be scooped up. Kiyaki and Izumi got outside in enough time to see a monstrous being shove that handful into his mouth. The two girls looked on in horror.

"A demon," Kiyaki heard before turning to see the speaker. It was the same woman from earlier and she looked horrified.

"How do we stop it?" Kiyaki asked her. The woman just looked over to her with sad eyes, as if knowing something Kiyaki did not.

"Aki, who are you talking to?" Izumi asked.

Kiyaki's expression reflected her inner shock. Didn't Izumi see the old woman? Her eyes widened as she remembered the woman telling her about the ability to see ghosts and spirits. Kiyaki wondered if she was going through the same thing.

Focusing back on the task at hand, Kiyaki turned to Izumi. "Go and hide," she ordered. Izumi looked to her as if to argue, but Kiyaki wouldn't have it. "I'll be fine, Zu. Just hide."

Izumi nodded in agreement as Kiyaki went to go see if she could stop the creature. It didn't look lizard or snake like except for the tail. It actually just looked like a black life form. Its eyes shone green and red, and Kiyaki easily agreed that it was a demon. She got ready to shoot it with water; but just as she was about to attack, her energy surrounding her body, it zoned in on her and tried to attack her. It was as if the creature sensed her oncoming attack.

She managed to narrowly dodge its tail and land some form of an attack, but with her energy, not her water abilities. It took her by surprise because she had never done something like that before. Caught off-guard, Kiyaki tripped and fell to the ground, the monster about to fall on top of her. Izumi gasped and ran as fast as she could to help her friend.

Kiyaki was still trying to regain her senses when she felt the wind being knocked out of her from Izumi pushing her out of the way of the falling creature. She looked over and her eyes widened in horror and despair. Izumi, her best friend and little sister, had just been crushed underneath the monster who had been trying to kill her. "No!" she cried out, her mind and energy screaming with her. She was about to run over, but the monster was on its feet instantly, roaring at her. Kiyaki looked to see the lifeless form of the only person that mattered to her and nearly broke. But she couldn't yet; she needed to get the monster away from the village.

She looked back to take a mental picture of her once peaceful home, remembering the fearful expressions of the people she had considered as family. Now, there was nothing for her there. Her one purpose had been taken away from her. Her only goal now was to kill this demon that attacked and took her best friend away. She turned to run, knowing the angered creature would follow her away from the village.

* * *

As Kiyaki ran, she could hear the grunts of the creature behind her. While she was running she felt the same presence she had sensed before and their first day in the village following her. It didn't feel nearly as terrible as the monster chasing her, but to her in that moment, anything being sensed was bad.

Not able to concentrate on the location of tree roots, Kiyaki tripped. The monster let out something that sounded like a chuckle before licking his lips with a disgusting slurping sound. Kiyaki cringed as she was hit with some of the creature's warm saliva. Its tongue lashed out at her, and Kiyaki screamed, water from a stream turning into ice, launching and piercing the skin of the monster. It roared again, though this time in pain as Kiyaki quickly took the opportunity to get up and get into a tree. Holding onto a branch she caught her breath, finally, and was about to fight the monster.

She turned back to face it, but what she saw, she wasn't expecting. In an instant, the monster was sliced in two, lying dead in the forest before its body disintegrated and disappeared. Her eyes narrowed in confusion of trying to figure out what had actually happened.

The leaves of a branch near her rustled and she looked to see what made the noise. Kiyaki yelped and nearly let go of the branch when she saw a person staring back at her. Regaining her composure, she studied the other person. He was somewhat short and had black, spiky hair and blood red eyes. She realized that she couldn't seem to look away from his seemingly familiar eyes, but when he narrowed them, she managed to avert her nervous, blue ones.

She tried to speak to thank him, but no words came out. Then she saw his eyes look towards her left arm. His glare turned into a smirk.

"Um," Kiyaki started nervously. "Thank-" And then the guy who had saved her attacked her, knocking her out of the tree. "Wha…What the hell?" she asked him.

He started laughing before trying to punch her again. Kiyaki managed to dodge his punch, grab his arm, and flip him. The guy was obviously shocked by her ability to defend herself. It was clear he was angry when he drew his sword. Kiyaki was about to attack him with strands of water, which were then surrounding him, but stopped the drops midair as he pressed his sword against her neck. The two stayed frozen like that before the guy smirked at her again.

"Not bad, girl," he said in a deep, cocky voice. Those were the first words she heard him speak.

Kiyaki was taken aback, especially when he removed his sword from her neck. "What the heck was that for?" she screamed at him. "Do you not realize that I already had to deal with one attacker today?"

The guy shrugged and sheathed his sword, turning away from her. "I did," he replied with nonchalance. He flitted into a tree and started to make his escape. Kiyaki tried to keep up with him on the ground.

"You creep! Why did you attack me?"

He just flashed her a smirk and shouted his name before disappearing.

Kiyaki stopped in her tracks when she heard the creep cry out, "Hiei!" Her expression would have been considered unreadable had anyone seen her in that moment. She whispered his name to herself, confused as to what has just happened. Taking a few deep breaths, she managed to calm herself down. When the adrenaline from the fights wore off, though, Kiyaki fell to her knees, crying as she thought about the one she had lost that day. Things were never going to be the same for her again.

* * *

A/N: I've been waiting to use that "water is rarely pure" quote all semester ever since my forensic chemistry teacher said it.


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